High density, three-dimensional, intercoupled circuit structure

ABSTRACT

A three-dimensional circuit structure includes a plurality of elongate cylindrical substrates positioned in parallel and in contact with one another. Electrical components are formed on the surfaces of the substrates, along with electrical conductors coupled to those components. The conductors are selectively positioned on each substrate so as to contact conductors on adjacent substrates to allow for the transfer of electrical signals between substrates. The conductor patterns on the substrates may be helical, circumferential, or longitudinal, in such a fashion that substrates may be added to or removed from the bundle so that the bundle will continue to operate as needed. The cylindrical nature of the substrates leaves gaps or channels between the substrates to which cooling fluid may be supplied for cooling the circuitry.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 0714,132filed Aug. 30, 1993, now abandoned, which is a divisional of Ser. No.07/871,336 filed on Apr. 21, 1992, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,485,which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 07/816,628 filed on Dec. 31,1991, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,882.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a system for constructing integrated circuitson a plurality of three-dimensional objects and for arranging theobjects so that the circuits may be selectively intercoupled, all in ahigh density configuration.

High density packing of circuit components on a planar circuit board orchip is commonplace today. Such circuit boards or chips may be formed invarious ways including the use of lithographic techniques which allowsfor the precise manufacturing and formation of very small details on thecircuit board or chip. However, such lithographic techniques have in thepast generally been limited to the formation of the circuit structureson planar surfaces such as found on boards and chips.

With the above conventional approach to constructing circuits, in orderto increase the circuit capacity in terms of quantity of components, ithas been the typical practice to arrange circuit boards or chips instacks, one above another, and then interconnect the circuits ondifferent boards as well as circuits on the same board. See, forexample, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,771,366, 5,016,138, 5,006,925, and 4,884,167.As noted in at least some of these cited patents, as the number anddensity of components on a circuit board has increased and as the numberof boards increases, it has become more difficult to make effectiveconnections especially between the boards. Also, with the increaseddensity, heating becomes more of a problem and ways of cooling thecircuits must be found to ensure accurate and reliable operation. Asindicated in a number of the above-cited patents, there are variousapproaches to providing the required cooling of stacks of circuit boardsbut such approaches typically are cumbersome, require complicatedStructure, and have limited effectiveness.

A recent development in circuit construction allows for the fabricationof circuits on three-dimensional objects such as cylinders. Seeco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 816,628, filed Dec. 12,1991. Now, instead of just the provision of circuits on generally flatcircuit boards and chips which limits the density of electricalcomponents which can be provided in a certain volume, as well as theinterconnectability of components located on different boards or chips,circuit structures can be provided in which electrical components may bepositioned about an entire three-dimensional substrate to both allow forincreased density of components for a certain volume and allow forgreater exposure of the components for purposes of connecting thosecomponents with components on other substrates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a three-dimensionalelectrical circuit structure which allows for a high density packing ofelectrical components.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a structureutilizing constituent three-dimensional substrates for holdingelectrical components in which the components may be readilyinterconnected with one another, both on the same substrate and betweensubstrates.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a structurehaving a plurality of three-dimensional substrates in which theindividual substrates may be readily removed and replaced with othersubstrates while maintaining the desired interconnection of electricalcomponents between substrates.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide such a structurein which constituent substrates may be formed to nest or stack in closeproximity to one another.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such a structurewhich lends itself to simple and efficient cooling of and heatdissipation from the electrical circuitry.

It is also an object of the invention to provide such a structure whichmay be configured to provide electronic systems such as display systemsand the like.

The above and other objects of the invention are realized in a specificillustrative embodiment of a three-dimensional electrical circuitstructure which includes a plurality of elongate body substrates, eachof which includes one or more electrical components disposed on thesurface thereof, and electrical conductors also disposed on the surfaceand coupled to one or more of the electrical components of thatsubstrate.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the electricalconductors on the elongate body substrates are patterned so that whenthe substrates are placed in contact with one another, such asside-by-side and in parallel, electrical conductors on each substratemake electrical contact with electrical conductors of at least one othersubstrate to allow the transfer of electrical signals therebetween.Alternatively, the electrical conductors may be disposed at the ends ofthe substrates, and the substrates formed, so that the substrates may beplaced end to end, with the electrical conductors on adjacent substratesmaking contact to allow exchange of electrical signals betweensubstrates.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, channels forcarrying cooling fluid are formed in the elongate body substrates inparallel with the long axes thereof, or between the elongate bodysubstrates when the substrates are positioned or bundled in acontacting, side-by-side, parallel configuration.

The elongate body substrates may have a variety of cross sections suchas circular, oval, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, etc. as may bedesired to carry the circuitry and to allow for electrical conductors onone substrate to contact selected electrical conductors of othersubstrates when the substrates are bundled or positioned together.

With the configuration and structure described, a building blockapproach to constructing circuits may be taken in which substrates maybe easily added to or taken from the composite whole, for example, toadd or subtract memory, add or subtract computational power, etc. Thiscould be done by adding additional substrates to a bundle, removingsubstrates and replacing them with other substrates, etc. whereelectrical interconnection to the added substrates is made by contact ofsurface location conductors. Also, selected interconnections betweensubstrates may be had by proper positioning of the substrates in thebundle, relative to one another, such as by rotating a substrate and/ormoving it longitudinally relative to the other substrates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent from a consideration of the following detaileddescription presented in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a high density, three-dimensionalcircuit structure, composed of a plurality of cylindrical substratespositioned together in contact with adjacent substrates, in accordancewith the principles of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a side, elevational view and an end viewrespectively of a circuit structure made in accordance with the presentinvention and composed of a plurality of cylindrical substrates;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of circuit structure of the presentinvention in which elongate substrates are formed with a triangularcross-sectional area to allow nesting or stacking together as shown;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of circuit structure of the presentinvention in which elongate substrates are formed with a hexagonalcross-sectional area to allow nesting or stacking together as shown;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of circuit structure of the presentinvention in which elongate substrates are formed with a rectangularcross-sectional area to allow nesting or stacking together as shown;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of circuit structure of the presentinvention in which elongate substrates are formed with a octagonalcross-sectional area to allow nesting or stacking together as shown;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are respectively a perspective view of a circuitstructure made in accordance with the present invention showingcylindrical substrates held in place by interconnect and supportelements, and an end view of another embodiment of interconnect andsupport elements;

FIG. 8 is a side, partially cross-sectional view of circuit structuremade in accordance with the present invention in which one element plugsinto another element;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a circuit structure made in accordancewith the present invention and showing circuitry on two cylindricalsubstrates being coupled for transmitting signals therebetween by light;

FIG. 9b is a perspective view of a circuit structure made in accordancewith the present invention and showing circuitry on two cylindricalsubstrates being coupled for transmitting signals therebetween byelectric field;

FIG. 9c is a perspective view of a circuit structure made in accordancewith the present invention and showing circuitry on two cylindricalsubstrates being coupled for transmitting signals therebetween by radiosignals;

FIG. 10 is a side, elevational view of a pair of cylindrical substratesmade in accordance with the present invention and containing, on onesubstrate, sensing circuitry and, on the other substrate, emittercircuitry;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an array of substrates made inaccordance with the present invention suitable for either producing anoptical display or for detecting optical images; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an array ofsubstrates for producing an optical display in accordance with thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown one illustrative embodiment of athree-dimensional, intercoupled circuit structure made in accordancewith the present invention. This structure includes a plurality ofcylinders 4 made, for example, of an insulator material such as quartz,silica, sapphire, etc., some of said cylinders including axiallydisposed bores or hollows 6. Formed on the cylinders 4 are variousintegrated circuit components 8 fabricated, for example, usingnon-planar, exposure beam lithography as described in the afore-citedco-pending patent application. Such lithography allows for the formationon the surface of three-dimensional objects and bodies of variousintegrated circuits which otherwise are conventionally formed on planarplates, chips or boards. The particular type of integrated circuitcomponents is not a part of the present invention, and such componentscould be both active and passive electrical components such as, in theformer case, transistors, diodes, semiconductors, etc. and, in thelatter case, resistors, capacitors, inductors, etc. These components, inturn, could be fabricated into circuits Such as amplifiers, powersupplies, modulators and demodulators, etc.

The circuit components 8 are coupled to electrical conductors or leads12 formed to extend both longitudinally on the surface of the cylindersand circumferentially thereabout, as shown. The conductors on eachcylinder 4 are formed and positioned so as to selectively makeelectrical contact with conductors on adjacent cylinders with which saideach cylinder is in contact. Thus, longitudinal conductors may becoupled to circuit components 8 to extend a distance longitudinally fromthe component so as to contact a ring or circumferential conductor on anadjacent cylinder when the two cylinders are placed togetherside-by-side. Alternatively, the longitudinal conductors may simply bepositioned to connect with ring conductors which circumscribe thecylinder, which ring conductors, in turn, selectively contact ringconductors of adjacent cylinders. In this manner, electrical signals maybe transferred not only between circuit components 8 on the samecylinder, but also between circuit components located on differentcylinders. Further, the cylinders 4 and conductors 12 could be arrangedto allow for transferring electrical signals from circuit components 8on a certain cylinder, via conductors of an adjacent cylinder to circuitcomponents located on a non-adjacent cylinder.

Because of the circuit component density achievable with the structureof FIG. 1, it may be necessary to provide for cooling the circuitcomponents and this is achievable by either directing cooling fluidthroughthe gaps formed between the cylinders when the cylinders arestacked together, or through the hollows 6 formed in the cylinders. Suchcooling fluid would be applied to an end, intake manifold (not shown),through either the gaps or hollows 6 to an end, outlet manifold 20. Theuse of such cooling fluid would be to maintain an appropriatetemperature for the circuit structure and package to ensure proper andreliable operation.

FIGS. 2A and 2B respectively show a side, elevational view and an endview of a plurality of cylindrical substrates 24 on two of which areformed helical conductors 28, some of which are connected to circuitcomponents 32, and on one of which are formed ring or circumferentialconductors 36. In the configuration shown in FIG. 2A, the helicalconductors 28 on the two cylinders 24 are positioned so as to makecontact between cylinders and allow for the transfer of electricalsignals from components 32 of one cylinder to components 32 on the othercylinder. This is also illustrated in FIG. 2B, by the dots between thecylinders. Similarly, the ring conductors 36 are formed so as to makecontact with at least some of the helical conductors 28 on the adjacentcylinder.

As can be visualized from FIG. 2A, rotating one or more of the cylinders24 would result in the conductors 28 and 36 possibly moving out ofcontact with one another. Also, moving one or more of the cylinders 24longitudinally would likewise possibly move the conductors 28 and 36 outof contact with one another. Of course, this simply illustrates thatwith proper rotation and/or longitudinal movement and positioning of thecylinders, appropriate connections between the cylinders can beeffected.

It is also apparent from FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B that additional circuitrycan be added to and built upon (or removed from) the existing bundle ofcylinders and circuits by placing appropriate additional cylinders withcircuitry into contact with the existing bundle. For example, ifadditional memory were to be added to a bundle of cylinders, then acylinder with such additional memory would be placed into contact withthe appropriate existing cylinders in the bundle.

The disposition of conductors on the cylindrical substrates in FIGS. 1,2A and 2B is for illustrating that a variety of conductor formationscould be provided to allow both for interconnecting circuit componentson the same cylindrical substrate and circuit components on differentcylindrical substrates.

FIGS. 3-6 show perspective views of elongate substrates havingalternative cross-sections to allow for alternative ways for stacking ofthe substrates. No circuit components or conductors are shown on theelongate substrates of FIGS. 3-6 but they would be so formed in the samemanner as is done for the cylindrical substrates of FIGS. 1 and 2, inaccordance with the method of the afore-cited co-pending patentapplication.

FIG. 3 shows elongate substrates having triangular cross-sections andcentrally disposed bores 40 extending the length of the substrates forcarrying a cooling fluid. In this configuration, each of the substratesincludes flats (side walls) 44 at least some of which on each substratemake contact with the flats of other substrates.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of four elongate substrates 48 havingcentrally disposed bores 52 extending the length thereof for carrying acooling fluid. With the hexagonal cross-section configuration, thesubstrates 48 may stack or nest together with the flat side walls makingintimate contact with the side walls of adjacent substrates.

FIG. 5 shows elongate substrates 56 having rectangular (square)cross-sections, again with centrally disposed bores or hollows 60extending the lengths thereof.

Finally, FIG. 6 shows elongate substrate 64 having octagonalcross-sections, also with centrally disposed bores 68 and further with agap or opening located centrally of the four substrates 64, which couldalso be utilized for carrying a cooling fluid. Of course, othersubstrate shapes could be provided so as to allow stacking together ofthe substrates for the high density packing of circuit components withthe capability of electrical signal interchange between substrates.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view showing four cylindrical substrates 76held together in a nested relationship by a lattice of rods 80. The rods80 advantageously are made of an electrically conductive material toalso serve to make contact with conductors 84 on the cylinders 76 tocarry electrical signals and provide connections between the cylinders.The rods are formed of one set 80a of spaced-apart, generally parallelrods disposed in a plane, and another set 80b of spaced-apart, generallyparallel rods disposed in a plane adjacent to and substantially parallelwith the first plane so that the one set 80a intersects the other 80b atan acute or right angle to define quadrangular openings 88 in thelattice, each for receiving and holding a different one of the cylinders76. The rods 80 are laterally resilient so as to flex to accommodatereceiving and holding of the cylinders and accommodate electricalcontact with conductors 84 on the cylinders. Of course, more.than onelattice could be utilized to better hold and support the cylinders; forexample, such a lattice could be provided at the end of the cylinders 76opposite that at which the lattice rods 80 are located.

FIG. 7B shows an end view of an alternative arrangement for holdingcylinder substrates with a lattice. In this arrangement, three parallelsets of rods 91 are utilized to form triangular openings 92 to hold thecylinders. The lattice rods 91, as with the FIG. 7A arrangement, wouldprovide both support and electrical interconnection between thecylinders 92.

FIG. 8 shows a side, partially cross-sectional view of a generallycylindrical substrate 94 removably disposed in a hollow 96 of acylindrical substrate 100. Circuit components are disposed on thesubstrate 94, on the exterior thereof to include a pair of sensors 104suitable, for example, for sensing chemical species (in a chemicalcomposition to which the sensors are exposed), heat, light, electricalfields, etc. The specific construction of such sensors 104 is not thesubject of the present invention but rather, the manner of positioningof sensors on an elongate substrate which may be removably inserted intothe hollow of a second substrate to allow for the exchange of electricalsignals therebetween. The sensors 104 are coupled to a processingcircuit 108 which, for example, could process signals received from thesensors 104 to amplify them, reshape them, etc. for transfer ontoconductors 112, also formed on the substrate 92. The conductors 112, inturn, are coupled to ring conductors 116 which circumscribe the end ofthe substrate 94 opposite the end at which the sensors 104 are located.When the substrate 94 is inserted into the substrate 100, the ringconductors 116 make contact with a second set of ring conductors 120which are formed on the inside wall of the hollow 96 to circumscribe thehollow. These ring conductors 120 in turn, are coupled to conductors 124which extend through the hollow to a utilization circuit (not shown)such as, for example, a display means for displaying a valuerepresenting the parameter sensed by the sensors 104.

With the configuration of FIG. 8, various sensor substrates could beprovided so that if a particular physical parameter were to be sensed,an appropriate sensor substrate could be plugged into the end ofsubstrate 100. so that ring conductors 116 made contact,with ringconductors 120, and the sensing operation could then proceed. When itwere desired to sense or detect a different physical parameter, then theappropriate sensing substrate 92 for that physical parameter could beselected and plugged into the substrate 100 as earlier described.Although the substrates 94 and 100 are shown to be fairly large in FIG.8, with the use of the nonplanar lithography described in the previouslycited copending patent application, very small fine-detailed circuitcomponents could be formed on very small substrates of, for example,down to one hundred microns in diameter.

FIGS. 9a, 9b and 9c show a pair of cylindrical substrates spaced apartbut positioned generally parallel with one another. Again, electricalcircuitry is formed on the exterior surface of each of the substrates toinclude in this instance elements for allowing signalling between thesubstrates via light, capacitive coupling, or radio frequency signals,respectively. These elements include the means for supplying controlsignals to the signal emitters.

In the case of light coupling shown in FIG. 9a, element 136 on substrate132 would illustratively be a light emitter such as a photodiode andelement 140 on substrate 130 would be a light receiver such as aphotocell. Then, if signals were to be passed from substrate 132 tosubstrate 130, the light emitting element 136 would be energized toproduce a light signal which would be received by light receivingelement 140 which would produce a signal representing the light signalreceived, for transfer to a circuit component 144, for example. Thecircuit component 144 is then a means for receiving actuation signalsdetected by the light receiving element 140.

FIG. 9b illustrates an embodiment of the present invention that differsfrom FIG. 9a only in the method of communication between substrates. Inthe case of capacitive electrical field coupling, the element 214 on thesubstrate 212 could simply be a capacitor plate, as would element 216 onsubstrate 210. Then, when electrical charges were supplied to theelement 214, to produce an electrical field directed to element 216,element 216 would produce corresponding charges and thus signalsrepresenting the intensity of the electrical field. This information,again, would be passed to circuit component 218 for further processing,for example. The circuit component 144 would receive actuation signalsreceived by components detecting the intensity of an electrical field.Alternatively to varying the electrical field developed betweencapacitor plates 214 and 216, a dielectric medium, represented by arrows220, could be provided between the plates 214 and 216 and then thedielectric constant varied so as to vary the strength of the electricfield detected by plate 216. Varying the dielectric constant could becarried out by simply changing the composition of the dielectric mediumas it was passed between the plates 214 and 216.

FIG. 9c illustrates an embodiment of the present invention that differsfrom FIGS. 9a and 9b only in the method of communication betweensubstrates. For radio frequency signalling between the substrates 230and 232, element 234 would be formed to be a transmitting antenna andelement 236 would be formed to be a receiving antenna, and then thecircuitry on substrate 232 would be formed to include radio frequencysignal transmitting circuitry, and the circuitry on substrate 230 wouldbe formed to include radio frequency signal receiving circuitry.

Of course, additional substrates formed in an array with the twosubstrates of FIGS. 9a, 9b and 9c could also be provided to allow forcommunicating among a large number of substrates.

The cylinder substrates 130 and 132 of FIG. 9a could be formed of fiberoptic strands made, for example, of quartz, silica, sapphire, etc.Light, represented by arrows 148, could be supplied to and transmittedalong the fiber optic strands 130 and 132, and the strands could haveformed thereon light detecting elements, such as photocells, for pickingup or detecting the intensity of light being transmitted along thestrand. Signals representing this detected intensity could be providedto other circuitry formed on the strands, and processed as desired.

From the above descriptions of FIGS. 9a, 9b, and 9c it can be seen thatsignalling between the substrates can be effected in a variety of wayseven without the substrates being in contact with one another, and alsothat signals can be transmitted along, i.e., inside of, the substratesvia the use of light.

FIG. 10 is a side, elevational view of a pair of cylindrical substrates154 and 158, one of which (substrate 154) is adapted for sensing aphysical parameter, and the other of which (substrate 158) is adaptedfor emitting a signal identifying the. value of the parameter sensed bythe first substrate. Circuitry is formed on both substrates in a manneralready described for carrying out the respective functions of thesubstrates. Communication between substrate 154 and substrate 158 may behad by an electromagnetic signal transmission such as light or a radiofrequency signal.

The sensor circuitry on substrate 154, at the left end thereof in FIG.10, might illustratively include circuitry for sensing various chemicalspecies such as described in U.S. Pat. No. BI 4,020,830, circuitry forsensing the intensity of light such as by a photocell, circuitry forsensing the temperature of a fluid to which the substrate 154 isexposed, etc. Signals produced by the sensing circuitry representing thevalue of the physical parameter sensed would be processed by othercircuitry on the substrate 154 and then signals, again representing thevalue of the physical parameter sensed, transmitted by the substrate 154to the substrate 158 as previously mentioned. Circuitry on substrate 158would receive these transmitted signals, and, in turn, produce or causeproduction of signals for emission outwardly of the substrate, such aslight signals or radio frequency signals, indicating the value of thephysical parameter sensed.

The FIG. 10 embodiment of the present invention simply shows how atransducer might be constructed for detecting or sensing physicalparameters and then emitting a signal representing the value of thesensed parameter. Of course, communication between the substrate 154 and158 could be had simply by coupling the two substrates together by anelectrical conductor, in lieu of the non-contact communication earlierdescribed.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are perspective views of arrays of substrates suitablefor producing optical displays. FIG. 11 shows a plurality of cylindricalsubstrates 164 arranged in parallel in a stack to present a generallyplanar front surface. Formed on the front surfaces of the substrates 164are light emitting elements 168, such as light-emitting diodes or thelike. Disposed on the back side of the substrates 164 (not seen in FIG.11) are a plurality of element driving circuits, each coupled to arespective one of the elements 168 and to one horizontal conductor ofthe conductors 172 and one vertical conductor of the conductors 176.Thus, there are a total of seven (columns) x nine (row) light emittingelements, and the same number of driving circuits coupled to respectivelight emitting elements.

Optical displays are produced by supplying electrical signals (from asignal source 180) to selected ones of the horizontal conductors 172 andvertical conductors 176 such that each circuit on the back of thesubstrates 164 which is connected to a horizontal conductor and verticalconductor which both receive an electrical signal will energize arespective light emitting element 168. The circuits on the back of thesubstrate could utilize simple AND gate logic to determine when bothhorizontal and vertical conductors to which they were connected receiveelectrical signals. In this fashion, various optical patterns can beproduced on the optical display structure of FIG. 11.

The FIG. 11 structure could also be adapted to allow for opticaldetection of light patterns by providing light detecting elements, suchas photocells, in place of the light emitting elements 168. Then, whenthe front surface of the stack of substrates 164 were exposed to aparticular light pattern, certain ones of the photocells on the frontsurfaces of the substrates would detect light, or at least certainlevels of light, while others would not and the circuitry on the back ofthe substrates 164 would produce signals on both the horizontalconductor and vertical conductor to which they are connected. Thesesignals would be supplied to a utilization circuit (in place of signalsource 180) connected to both the horizontal conductors 172 and verticalconductors 176 which would determine which photocells detected light andthus determine the light pattern to which the substrate stack wasexposed. The utilization device 180 for processing the signals on thehorizontal conductors 172 and vertical conductors 176 for thusdetermining the detected light pattern, could simply be a microprocessoror other data processing system.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an array ofsubstrates for producing an optical display including a plurality oftransparent tubes, made of glass or clear plastic, positioned generallyside-by-side and in parallel as shown. Each tube 184 is filled with anexcitable inert gas such as neon (the tubes 184 would be closed on theends to prevent the escape of the inert gas, although they are shown asbeing open in FIG. 12, for illustrative purposes only. Threaded througheach of the tubes 184 is a different one of a plurality of horizontalelectrical conductors 188. Disposed on a back side of each of the tubes184 are elongate conductor strips 192. Extending vertically in parallelwith one another to contact each of the conductive strips 192 atdifferent spaced-apart locations along the strips, are a plurality ofvertical electrical conductors 196.

Again, by supplying electrical signals (from a signal source 204) toselected ones of the horizontal conductors 188 and vertical conductors196, the inert gas located in the general area of the intersection of ahorizontal conductor and vertical conductor to which electrical signalsare applied will be excited to emit light. Excited areas of gas in thetubes 184 are illustrated bythe patches 200 in FIG. 12. The electricalsignals supplied to only one conductor is insufficient to excite the gasbut the electrical signals supplied to two intersecting conductors issufficient. The gas is excited by the electric fields produced by theflow of current throughthe conductors, which fields, when they exceed acertain level, excite Or energize the inert gas in close proximity tosuch fields.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are onlyillustrative of the application of the principles of the presentinvention. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may bedevised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention and the appended claims are intendedto cover such modifications and arrangements. For example, although thesubstrates of the embodiments were generally shown and described asbeing positioned/stacked in parallel, other positioning/stackingarrangements could also be provided such as cross-wise, non-parallelstacking, a combination of cross-wise and parallel stacking, etc.

What is claimed is:
 1. Circuit coupling apparatus comprisinga pluralityof cylindrical elongate base elements arranged generally in a parallelconfiguration, and a plurality of electrical components disposed on thebase elements, said components includingat least one signal emittermeans on at least one base element for producing a coupling signal whosemagnitude varies in response to control signals, means on said at leastone base element for supplying control signals to said signal emittermeans, at least one coupling signal detector means on at least anotherbase element disposed to intercept coupling signals produced by thesignal emitter means for for producing actuation signals representingthe magnitude of coupling signals intercepted by the signal detectormeans, and means on said at least another base element for receiving theactuation signals.
 2. Circuit coupling apparatus as in claim 1whereinsaid signal emitter means comprises a light emitter means, wherein saidcoupling signals comprise light signals, and wherein said signaldetector means comprises a light detector means.
 3. Apparatus as inclaim 1, wherein the cylindrical elongate base elements comprisegenerally elongate cylindrical strands, said cylindrical strandscomprising fiber optic strands for conveying light signals, saidapparatus further comprisingmeans for supplying light signals to atleast one fiber optic strand for transmission therealong, means disposedon said at least one fiber optic strand for producing characterizingsignals representing light signals transmitted by said fiber opticstrand, and means for conveying said characterizing signals to anelectrical component on said at least one fiber optic strand.
 4. Circuitcoupling apparatus comprising:a plurality of cylindrical elongate baseelements arranged generally in a parallel configuration, wherein thecylindrical elongate base elements comprise generally elongatecylindrical strands, said cylindrical strands comprising fiber opticstrands for conveying light signals, said apparatus furthercomprisingmeans for supplying light signals to at least one fiber opticstrand for transmission therealong, means disposed on said at least onefiber optic strand for producing characterizing signals representinglight signals transmitted by said fiber optic strand, and means forconveying said characterizing signals to an electrical component on saidat least one fiber optic strand; a plurality of electrical componentsdisposed on the base elements, said components including at least onesignal emitter means on at least one base element for producing acoupling signal whose magnitude varies in response to control signals;means on said at least one base element for supplying control signals tosaid signal emitter means; at least one coupling signal detector meanson at least another base element disposed to intercept coupling signalsproduced by the signal emitter means and for producing actuation signalsrepresenting the magnitude of coupling signals intercepted by the signaldetector means; and means on said at least another base element forreceiving the actuation signals.